The Career Z Challenge is designed to highlight innovative efforts to provide real-world learning to high school students. It’s part of a Biden Administration initiative launched last fall called aimed at helping prepare students to fill millions of jobs as they graduate high school. Finalists will receive a portion of $2.5 million in funding to help guide the department’s efforts to expand sustainable, high-quality programs nationally. 

“An education system reimagined for the 21st century engages youth of all ages in the power of career-connected learning and provides every student with the opportunity to gain real-life work experience, earn college credits and make progress towards an industry credential before they graduate high school,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona . 

Amy Loyd, assistant secretary of the department’s Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education said they hope to expand promising examples of collaborative work between educators, businesses, industries, nonprofits and other community stakeholders.

What these efforts look like will vary, she acknowledged, pointing to examples like , a nonprofit that embeds college and career readiness advisers in public high schools in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and to match students with employers offering work-based learning opportunities. 

The administration wants to scale up apprenticeship programs in high schools, particularly in rural areas where students struggle to find lucrative careers and companies often have trouble finding skilled workers. 

Loyd also emphasized the department’s interest in helping communities access remote work-based learning opportunities.

She hopes to see career pathways that may be “leveraging technology in new ways so that students can stay in their hometown … and stay connected to the community and the global economy.” 

The deadline to for the is June 7. The department will reward new work-based learning programs and expansions of existing ones.

Apprenticeships, trade schools expand

of all U.S. high school graduates were ready for college or career last year as employers scrambled to fill more than 11 million job openings, especially in sectors like tech, clean energy and health care, according to a report from the Education Trust.

There has been a growing movement to create more internships and apprenticeships for young people, both to help their job training and fill open positions as people shift careers after the pandemic and Baby Boomers retire. 

The number of , before dipping during the pandemic. The department’s is part of a national push. 

At the same time, — just as enrollment at traditional four-year colleges and universities has .  

Enrollment in mechanic, culinary and repair programs saw enrollment increases of more than 11% from spring 2021 to 2022, . And enrollment in construction courses increased by 19.3%. 

Students typically cite affordability and a desire for a clearer career path as rationales for choosing trade programs over a more traditional college path.

To prepare students for such programs, career academies and similar efforts that allow students to earn college credit in high school have grown. But such programs hinge on the needs of local communities.

That’s why the department is looking at how such communities are designing work-based learning programs to “respond to the needs that employers have today and the needs that we’re projecting into the future,” Loyd said.

But those stereotypes have little basis in reality, according to the book, Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America, released earlier this year. 

John Della Volpe, author and director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School, analyzed the generation’s stressors and biggest motivators — and found Zoomers are more action-oriented, politically engaged and optimistic than portrayed.

Zoomers show up at the polls in historic numbers, for instance, while experiencing higher rates of depression and anxiety than older peers. Young people in the U.S. have grown up in an era marked by record gun violence, the opioid epidemic, threats to fair elections, the pandemic, economic recession and police brutality, Della Volpe notes.

“Rather than melting … just kind of turning away, when you see all this chaos, which would be what a lot of people would expect,” Della Volpe told ����Ӱ��, “[Gen Z] has actually become more focused, more motivated, potentially more angry, and more concerned about creating justice, not just for themselves, but for all those who are vulnerable across the country.”

In 2021, 61% of Zoomers agreed the government should do more to reduce poverty; 64% agreed basic health insurance is a right, according to the Harvard Institute of Polling. Both rates are up about 20% when compared to 2015’s results from millennials. 

And in the words of Alex, a Black high school student in the Midwest, Gen Zers “can be extremely effective leaders, as many of us have been educating ourselves on social issues for a lot of our lives.” 

“We are more empathetic, tuned in to the news, and educated,” Alex told Della Volpe. 

Zoomers are also painfully aware of the differences between themselves, born in the late 90s and early 2000s, and people born prior who would not have had the experience of fearing death at schools, theaters, or grocery stores.

“An older generation would not understand walking into a classroom and thinking about how easy it would be for someone to shoot it up,” said Grace, then 20, naming what she thinks older generations fundamentally misunderstand in one of Della Volpe’s focus groups. “The same daily weight on an adult’s shoulders over bills or taxes is what children feel about living or dying.” 

Below, explore five myths media and older generations get wrong about Gen Z: 

1. Myth: “Zoomers don’t show up at the polls”

In both the 2018 and 2020 presidential election, Gen Z’s turnout broke records. When over a third of eligible young people cast a vote in 2018, it nearly doubled 2014’s rate. 

Young voters, according to hundreds of focus group findings, are overwhelmingly eager to address some of society’s most pressing challenges. 

“Because it’s my responsibility…to do everything I can to make the world even just a little bit better. Even if it’s not the world that I would like to see, I cannot in good conscience allow the status quo to continue,” a Gen Zer from Western Pennsylvania notes in the book, explaining why she’d vote despite not being fully supportive of Biden. 

“…Clean and healthy environments, access to quality education, those are values that this generation just doesn’t compromise on,” Della Volpe said. “And currently, my perception is that there’s only one party developing solutions to address these issues, these systemic issues, including racial justice, policing, we can make a long list… any party that does not address those issues will become irrelevant in the future.” 

2. Myth: “Gen Z is too soft or sensitive.”

There’s a perception that Zoomers “melt” under the pressure of the moment, perhaps because they are twice as likely as Americans over 30 to experience anxiety and depression — likely in part due to the social and political trauma they’ve experienced. They’ve experienced chaos without healing across divides for a common goal, Della Volpe explained.

53% say they had little interest in doing things; 48% had trouble concentrating; and 28% thought about self-harm or believed they’d be better off dead, according to a Harvard poll conducted over two-weeks in March 2021. 

Simultaneously, there’s incredible empathy and resilience among young people eager to , talk about mental health and “seek help and closure”, Della Volpe said, to find ways to thrive.

“I dropped out because the cause of my depression and anxiety was taking so much of my time that I wasn’t getting any work done,” Katherine, then 19, said in a focus group. “My new homeroom teacher was really, really supportive, and helped me…so I could actually get towards graduating… just having someone to talk to saved me.”

3. Myth: “Young people don’t want to have hard conversations.”

In the thousands of conversations Della Volpe has held with young people of varied demographics across the country, he cannot remember a single time the group turned contentious. 

Often, he said, they found the meetings therapeutic.

“There are so many opportunities to have meaningful conversations about income inequality, climate, sexuality, racism…Search for those opportunities and try to engage, keep an open mind,” Della Volpe said. “Young people would welcome debates and different points of view.”

One way he imagined this happening more regularly in schools is to open up cafeterias, parking lots, or auditoriums for conversations or listening sessions where young people could vent, talk through what they’re witnessing in the world. 

“The direction of the country is also a new weight and a new challenge to them. So it’s helpful for parents and teachers to look for opportunities to engage in those conversations, rather than run away from them,” he added. 

4. Myth: “Gen Z is all liberal or socialist.”

Young people are not fully aligned politically. While a third support socialism broadly, only 15% identify as socialist. About 45% support capitalism — a rate that climbed to 54% among people shown a definition before sharing their opinion. 

When shown definitions of traditional socialism, support dropped to 24%. 

As one group of undergraduates explained, they’re looking for a form of capitalism that rewards everyone, not just the most privileged and wealthy. Zoomers look to learn from capitalist economies where healthcare and family are still prioritized, in places like Norway. 

“While everyone’s becoming more progressive, there’s a sense of pragmatism and diversity that exists kind of below the surface,” Della Volpe said. 

5. Myth: “Zoomers can’t deal with face-face interactions.”

“That’s because [they] have grown up behind a screen or with a smartphone in your hands. I don’t think that’s a zero sum game,” Della Volpe said of the assumption. 

Growing up with unprecedented access to the internet created a generation both adept at technology and emotionally intelligent. Gen Zers are communicators, comfortable with the nuances of remote work, how to leverage social media and express emotion or share resources on TikTok.

“What I’ve found, especially my qualitative research, is this personal agency — this ability to not just speak in developing relationships with friends, but also to use your voice to speak out for justice,” Della Volpe said.

A far-reaching study has found Generation Z could shake up the workplace, transforming how it has operated for decades.

The survey of nearly 7,000 13-25-year-olds Gen Z’ers — the nation’s most ethnically and racially diverse generation ever — by the Springtide Research Institute found a majority want work to be meaningful, don’t have a mentor, are worried about work/life balance, and are concerned their gender or racial identity may prevent them from finding work.

“Work is not just going to be a place for work; it’s going to be a place for Gen Z where they make meaning for their whole lives,” said Executive Director Dr. Josh Packard of the study, “Work/Life Helping Gen Z Flourish & Find Balance.”

“One of the big trends that matters is trust, because you’ve got a generation who has now lived through two big recessions fairly close in succession and is also not only the most diverse generation in history but also cares about diversity,” Packard continued.

The two big economic recessions, one in 2008 and the current financial crisis caused by the pandemic, have also fueled the generation’s anxiety, with the oldest and youngest having the biggest concerns.

Many Gen Z’ers also believe their racial or gender identity will influence their search for work; 1 in 5 Gen Z’ers said they will have a hard time finding a job because of their race, and females express less security in their financial lives than their male peers.

The study breaks down three core concepts of mentorship, meaning, and growth in Gen Z’s perspectives of life and work, and what they want out of it.

Mentorship in the workplace is crucial as 82% young people report it’s important their supervisor helps them set performance goals; and 83% say they want their supervisor to care about their life.

Springtide found the experiences of Gen Z’ers is not monolithic, as access to mentorship varies based on racial identity, finding “white young people have more access to mentors in life” than Hispanic/Latino and Black peers and that 60% of the white young people said they knew “someone who listens” compared to 51% of Hispanic and Latino and 41% of Black Gen Z’ers.

The experience of having a mentor in life influences young people’s expectations for a mentor at work. Since Hispanic/Latino and Black Gen Z’ers often have less experience with mentorship than white Gen Z’ers, they don’t carry the same expectations of their supervisors to care for and guide them.

Gen Z has also shown a desire to find value in work and in their lives in general, as 74% of young people claim they want the things they do to have a purpose. Meaning for Gen Z’ers also includes growth, and being able to change as a person, as 87% want a job where they can learn a lot.

While many interpret meaning in different ways, Gen Z believes it needs to not only fulfill themselves but others, as 86% said want to make a difference with their jobs.

In fact, 70% of 13-to-17-year-olds told the Institute they believe work is not worth doing if it is not meaningful to them; and nearly 3 out of 4 young people say what they do as a job is a part of who they are.

Other stats from “work life balance:”

• Over 40% of Gen Z are worried about not being qualified for the work they want to do.
• 47% of 13-25-year-olds are worried about “a lack of good jobs.”
• Only 38% have someone who models good work ethic and healthy relationships.
• 73% of young people say they are more likely to do extra work when they believe in what they are doing.
• 87% of 13-to-25-year-olds believe they are “responsible for making their own meaning at work”

����Ӱ�� Million found several Gen Z’ers who echoed the sentiment and findings of the Springtide Institute, in topics such as work and life balance, mentorship, and meaningful work.

Nathan Hall, 21

Campus Attendant at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Barista

“I am absolutely worried about sacrificing a part of (my) time and hobbies for work. Worried about hours always because New York is expensive. I’m an actor, and my industry is taking a bit of a hit right now. Work to me is whatever can pay rent and get enough money to get by, it’s unfortunate. I wish I could spend more time doing what I actually want to do. But that’s just not how it is.”

Kaylie, 14

Student, Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Clifton, New Jersey

“Some teachers when it comes to certain things, you get attached to them, [like] my sixth grade teacher who I still talk to a lot of the time. He helped me through a lot, transitioning from elementary school to middle school, and especially during the quarantine. When everything went online, it was hard for me to transition, but my relationships with counselors and teachers helped a lot…. to balance everything out with them.”

Carlos Polanco, 22

Graduated Senior, Dartmouth College

“Mentors are important, especially in the workplace. Having people who can stick up for you and people who you can ask questions…It’s also very important when you’re from an underrepresented background, in my experience as someone who is Black and Latinx, there have been very few people who look like me or come from similar backgrounds in places where I worked.”

Yana Gitelman, 18

Rising Freshman, Georgetown University 

I had a teacher in school who is (also) a clinical psychologist… and he told me how a lot of his clients and parents at our school live and work for their vacations. They’re miserable most of the year, and then get a super nice, fancy vacation where they’re happy for two weeks. I want work to feel like fun and not like I’m just like getting through the week to get to the weekends.”

Ethan Siede, 22

Rising Senior Princeton, Microsoft Software Engineering Intern

“I am very passionate about my work, and I don’t think I would want to do something that I wasn’t passionate about. It’s important to balance out work and life, and I think when you’re in your 20’s it’s better if you work a little bit more. But I think there’s only a limit to that, because those who do like 100 hour work weeks, I think that’s just wasting your 20’s.”

Julia Clark, 17

Rising Freshman, Williams College 

“I want work that still makes me excited because I don’t want to have a job that I dread… even if it pays really well. I don’t want to think of it as a job; I want to think of it as a passion that I’m just lucky enough to get paid for.”